Displaced double tap gesture

ABSTRACT

On a computing device having a motion sensor interface, a first tap a first point is detected via the motion sensor interface. A second tap is detected via the motion sensor interface at a second point within a fixed time interval of detecting the first tap. In response to determining that the second point is inside a fixed radius of the first point, the first tap and the second tap are processed as an instance of a first gesture. Otherwise, in response to determining that the second point is outside the fixed radius of the first point, the first tap and the second tap are processed as an instance of a second gesture.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to processing user input on a computingdevice and, more particularly, to processing gesture-based user input.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

Today, many devices are equipped with a touchscreen via which usersprovide input to various applications. A user now can manipulate objectsdisplayed on the touchscreen using her fingers or a stylus rather akeyboard, a mouse, or another input device. Moreover, a device equippedwith a so-called multi-touch interface can process user interaction withmultiple points on the touchscreen at the same time.

A particular input pattern including such events as, for example, acontact with the touchscreen and a certain motion of a finger or severalfingers over the surface of the touchscreen typically is referred to asa gesture. A gesture can correspond to a selection of, or input to, acertain command or function. For example, a trivial gesture may be a tapon a button displayed on the touchscreen, whereas a more complex gesturemay involve rotating an image or a portion of the image by placing twofingers on the touchscreen and moving the fingers along a certain path.

In general, a wide variety of software applications can receivegesture-based input. For example, such electronic devices as smartphones, car navigation systems, and hand-held Global Positioning System(GPS) units can support software applications that display interactivedigital maps of geographic regions. Depending on the application and/oruser preferences, a digital map may illustrate topographical data,street data, urban transit information, traffic data, etc. In aninteractive mode, the user may interact with the digital map usingfinger gestures.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a method for processing user input is implemented ina computing device having a motion sensor interface. The method includesdetecting, via the motion sensor interface, a first tap at a firstpoint. The method further includes detecting, via the motion sensorinterface, a second tap at a second point within a fixed time intervalof detecting the first tap. The method also includes processing thefirst tap and the second tap as an instance of a first gesture inresponse to determining that the second point is inside a fixed radiusof the first point, or otherwise processing the first tap and the secondtap as an instance of a second gesture in response to determining thatthe second point is outside the fixed radius of the first point.

Another embodiment of the techniques of this disclosure is acomputer-readable medium storing instructions for processing inputprovided via a touchscreen. When executed on one or more processors, theinstructions cause the one or more processors to display a digital mapon the touchscreen, receive an indication of a first tap at a firstpoint on the digital map, and receive an indication of a second tap at asecond point on the digital map, such that each of the first tap and thesecond tap is associated with a respective touchdown and liftoff event.The instructions further cause the one or more processors, in responseto determining that the second tap is detected within a fixed timeinterval of the first tap, to select a first map function or a secondmap function and apply the selected map function to the digital map. Toselect the first map function or the second map function, theinstructions cause the one or more processors to (i) select the firstmap function in response to determining that the second point is withina fixed radius of the first point, and (ii) select the second mapfunction in response to determining that the second point is outside thefixed radius of the first point.

Yet another embodiment of the techniques of this disclosure is a deviceincluding one or more processors, a motion sensor interface coupled tothe one or more processors and configured to receive user input, and amemory storing a set of instructions of an extended double tap gestureprocessing module. When executed on the one or more processors, thedouble tap gesture processing module is configured to receive, from themotion sensor interface, an indication of a first tap at a first pointand receive, from the motion sensor interface, an indication of a secondtap at a second point. In response to determining that the indication ofthe second tap is received within a fixed time interval of theindication of the first tap, the double tap gesture processing module isconfigured to process the first tap and the second tap as an instance ofone of several different double tap gestures, including select a doubletap gesture based at least on a distance between the first point and thesecond point.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example device having a touchscreen fordisplaying output and receiving input, in which gesture recognition andprocessing techniques of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example mapping system that can beimplemented in the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a double tap gesture and a displaced double tapgesture which the extended double tap gesture processing unit of FIG. 2can process;

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram that illustrates processing an examplesequence of events to recognize a double tap gesture or an extendeddouble tap gesture, which the extended double tap gesture processingunit of FIG. 2 can implement;

FIG. 5 is a state transition diagram of an example technique forprocessing double tap gestures of multiple types, which the extendeddouble tap gesture processing unit of FIG. 2 can implement; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method for processing a displaceddouble tap gesture according to the current command context.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally speaking, a software application recognizes a pair of taps onthe touchscreen occurring in quick succession as a double tap gesture ofone of several types, depending at least on the distance between thepoints of contact at which the taps occur. When the point of contact ofthe second tap is within a fixed radius of the point of contact of thefirst tap, the software application interprets the two taps as a“regular” double tap gesture which may be mapped to a certain imagemanipulation function, for example. However, when the point of contactof the second tap is outside this fixed radius, the software applicationinterprets the two taps as a “displaced” double tap gesture which may bemapped to another image manipulation function. For example, the softwareapplication may zoom in on an image upon detecting a double tap gesture,and zoom out of the image upon detecting a displaced double tap gesture.In some implementations, the mapping of the displaced double tap gestureto an image manipulation function is context-specific, so that, forexample, the software application zooms out of an image in one contextand realigns the image with a default orientation in another contextupon detecting a displaced double tap gesture.

To recognize a displaced double tap gesture, the software applicationadditionally may determine whether the point of contact of the secondtap is within a second, larger radius. According to this implementation,a pair of taps occurring at the same or approximately the same locationis processed as a double tap, a pair of taps occurring at a relativelysmall distance from each other is processed as a displaced double tap,and a pair of taps occurring at a relatively large distance from eachother is processed as two instances of a single-tap gesture, when thetwo taps occur within a certain fixed time interval. The second tap maybe displaced in any direction (above, below, to the left, or to theright) relative to the first tap. However, if desired, the softwareapplication can interpret the direction of displacement as an additionalparameter.

A touchscreen device that in which a software application can processdouble tap gestures of multiple types is discussed with reference toFIG. 1, a double tap gesture processing unit that can operate in such adevice is discussed with reference to FIG. 2, and example techniques forprocessing double tap gestures of multiple types are further discussedwith reference to FIGS. 3-6. For simplicity, processing double tapgestures is discussed below only in relation to software applicationsthat provide interactive digital two- and three-dimensional maps ontouchscreen devices, and the discussion below focuses on only severalmap manipulation functions, zoom and rotate. It will be noted, however,that the techniques of this disclosure also can be applied to other mapmanipulation functions such as three-dimensional tilt, for example.Further, these techniques also may be used in a variety of applicationssuch as web browsers, image viewing and editing applications, games,social networking applications, etc. to invoke various imagemanipulation functions. Still further, these or similar techniques canbe applied to any suitable motion sensor interface, including athree-dimensional gesture interface. In this case, the softwareapplication may process indications of contact with points on a virtualtwo- or three-dimensional surface, for example.

In addition to allowing users to manipulate images such as digital mapsor photographs, devices can process double tap gestures of multipletypes to receive other input and invoke other functions. For example,devices may apply regular and displaced double tap gestures to text(e.g., in text editing applications or web browsing applications), icons(e.g., in user interface functions of an operating system), and otherdisplayed objects. More generally, the gesture processing techniques ofthe present disclosure can be used in any system configured to receiveinput.

Referring to FIG. 1, a device 10 in an example embodiment includes atouchscreen 12 via which a user may provide gesture input to the device10 using fingers or a stylus. The device 10 may be a portable devicesuch as a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, a handheld game console, etc., or anon-portable computing device such as a desktop computer. The device 10includes a processor (or a set of two or more processors) such as acentral processing unit (CPU) 20 that execute software instructionsduring operation. The device 10 also may include a graphics processingunit (GPU) 22 dedicated to rendering images to be displayed on thetouchscreen 12. Further, the device 10 may include a random accessmemory (RAM) unit 24 for storing data and instructions during operationof the device 10. Still further, the device 10 may include a networkinterface module 26 for wired and/or wireless communications.

In various implementations, the network interface module 26 may includeone or several antennas and an interface component for communicating ona 2G, 3G, or 4G mobile communication network. Alternatively oradditionally, the network interface module 26 may include a componentfor operating on an IEEE 802.11 network. The network interface module 26may support one or several communication protocols, depending on theimplementation. For example, the network interface 26 may supportmessaging according to such communication protocols as Internet Protocol(IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP),Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc. Thenetwork interface 26 in some implementations is a component of theoperating system of the device 10.

In addition to the RAM unit 24, the device 10 may include persistentmemory modules such as a data storage 30 and a program storage 32 tostore data and software instructions, respectively. In an exampleimplementation, the components 30 and 32 include non-transitory,tangible computer-readable memory such as a hard disk drive or a flashchip. The program storage 32 may store a map controller 34 that executeson the CPU 20 to retrieve map data from a map server (not shown) via thenetwork interface module 26, generate raster images of a digital mapusing the map data, process user commands for manipulating the digitalmap, etc. The map controller 34 may receive user commands from thetouchscreen 12 via an extended double tap gesture processing unit 36.Similar to the map controller 34, the gesture processing unit 36 may bestored in the program storage 32 as a set of instructions executable onthe CPU 20.

As an alternative, however, the device 10 may be implemented as aso-called thin client that depends on another computing device forcertain computing and/or storage functions. For example, in one suchimplementation, the device 10 includes only volatile memory componentssuch as the RAM 24, and the components 30 and 32 are external to theclient device 10. As yet another alternative, the map controller 34 andthe gesture processing unit 36 can be stored only in the RAM 24 duringoperation of the device 10, and not stored in the program storage 32 atall. For example, the map controller 34 and the gesture processing unit36 can be provided to the device 10 from the Internet cloud inaccordance with the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. The mapcontroller 34 and/or the multimode gesture processing unit 36 in onesuch implementation are provided in a browser application (not shown)executing on the device 10.

In operation, the gesture processing unit 36 processes double tapgestures of multiple types using the techniques of the presentdisclosure. More particularly, an operating system or another componentof the device 10 may generate touchscreen events in response to the userplacing his or her fingers on the touchscreen 12. The events may begenerated in response to a detected change in the interaction betweenone or two fingers and a touchscreen (e.g., new position of a fingerrelative to the preceding event) or upon expiration of a certain amountof time since the reporting of the preceding event (e.g., tenmilliseconds), depending on the operating system and/or configuration.Thus, touchscreen events in some embodiments of the device 10 are alwaysdifferent from the preceding events, while in other embodiments,consecutive touchscreen events may include identical information.

The map controller 34 during operation receives map data in a raster ornon-raster (e.g., vector graphics) format, process the map data, andgenerates a digital map to be rendered on a touchscreen. The mapcontroller 34 in some cases uses a graphics library such as OpenGL, forexample, to efficiently generate digital maps. Graphics functions inturn may utilize the GPU 22 as well as the CPU 20. In addition tointerpreting map data and generating a digital map, the map controller34 supports map manipulation functions for changing the appearance ofthe digital map in response to double tap detected by the gestureprocessor 36. For example, the user may use gestures to select a regionon the digital map, enlarge the selected region, rotate the digital map,tilt the digital map in the three-dimensional mode, etc.

Next, FIG. 2 illustrates an example mapping system in which an extendeddouble tap gesture processing unit 60 may process double tap gestures ofmultiple types. In addition to the gesture processing unit 60, thesystem of FIG. 2 includes a map controller 52, a touchscreen 54, anevent processor 56, and an event queue 62. The system of FIG. 2 may beimplemented in the device 10 discussed above, for example (in which casethe gesture processing unit 60 may be similar to the gesture processingunit 36, the map controller 52 may be similar to the map controller 34,and the touchscreen 54 may be similar to the touchscreen 12). In oneembodiment, the illustrated components of the map rendering module 50are implemented as respective software modules operating on a suitableplatform such as the Android™ operating system, for example.

The event processor 56 may be provided as a component of an operatingsystem or as a component of an application that executes on theoperating system. In an example implementation, the event processor 56is provided as a shared library, such as a dynamic-link library (DLL),with functions for event processing that various software applicationscan invoke. The event processor 56 generates descriptions of touchscreenevents for use by the gesture processing unit 60. Each touchscreen eventmay be characterized by two-dimensional coordinates of each location onthe surface of the touchscreen where a contact with a finger isdetected, which may be referred to as a “point of contact.” By analyzinga sequence of touchscreen events, the event processor 56 may determinethe trajectory of a finger (or a stylus) on the touchscreen. Dependingon the implementation, when two or more fingers are on the touchscreen,a separate touchscreen event may be generated for each point of contact,or, alternatively, a single event that describes all points of contactmay be generated. Further, in addition to the coordinates of one orpoints of contact, a touchscreen event in some computing environmentsalso may be associated with additional information such as motion and/ortransition data. If the device 10 runs the Android operating system, theevent processor 56 may operate on instances of the MotionEvent classprovided by the operating system.

The event processor 56 may store descriptions of touchscreen events inthe event queue 62, and the gesture processing unit 60 may process thesedescriptions to identify gestures. In an example implementation, thenumber of event descriptions stored in the event queue 62 is limited toM touchscreen events. The gesture processing unit 60 may also require aminimum number L of event descriptions to trigger an analysis of theevents. Thus, although the event queue 62 at some point may store morethan M or less than L event descriptions, the gesture processing unit 60may operate on N events, where L≦N≦M. Further, the gesture processingunit 60 may require that the N events belong to the same event window Wof a predetermined duration (e.g., 250 ms).

With continued reference to FIG. 2, the gesture processing unit 60includes a mode selector 70 and a gesture definitions module 72. Thegesture definitions module 72 may store a definition of a gesture G inthe form of set S_(G) of start conditions C₁, C₂, . . . C_(N), forexample, so that gesture G starts only when each of the condition in theset S_(G) is satisfied. The number of conditions for starting aparticular gesture may vary according to the complexity of the gesture.For example, a relatively complex two-finger scale gesture may includenumerous conditions such as determining that the distance between twopoints of contact changes at or above a certain predefined rate,determining that the initial distance between the two points of contactexceeds a certain minimum value, determining that the two points ofcontact remain on the same line (with a certain predefined margin oferror), etc. In operation, the gesture processing unit 60 may comparedescriptions of individual touchscreen events or sequences oftouchscreen events with these sets of start to identify gestures beingperformed.

For a regular double-tap gesture, the gesture definitions module 72 maystore such conditions as (i) detecting contact with the touchscreen at afirst point of contact, (ii) determining that the duration of thecontact does not exceed maximum contact time T₁, (iii) detecting anothercontact with the touchscreen within a certain fixed time interval T₂ ata second point of contact, (iv) determining that the first point ofcontact and the second point of contact are separated by no more than afixed radius R₁, and (v) determining that the duration of the secondcontact does not exceed maximum contact time T₁. For a displaceddouble-tap gesture, the gesture definitions module 72 may storeconditions (i)-(iii) and (v) of the double-tap gesture as well as suchconditions as determining that the first point of contact and the secondpoint of contact are separated by least a fixed radius R₁ and,optionally, determining that the first point of contact and the secondpoint of contact are separated by no more than a fixed radius R₂, whereR₂>R₁.

The mode selector 70 may associate the extended double gesture, as wellas other gestures, with different map manipulation functions indifferent command contexts. The mapping may be user-configurable.According to an example implementation, the mode selector 70 and/or themap controller 52 maps the regular double tap gesture to a zoom-infunction for increasing the zoom level by a predetermined amount and theextended double tap gesture to a zoom-out function for decreasing thezoom level by the same amount, in the default mode of displaying adigital map on the touchscreen 54. If, however, the user rotates thedigital map so that the top of the touchscreen 54 is no longer alignedwith the default direction (e.g., North), the mode selector 70 maps thedisplaced double tap gesture to an orientation alignment function forrotating the digital map until the digital map has the defaultorientation. In operation, the map controller 52 receives an indicationof a displaced double tap gesture, determines whether the digital maphas the default orientation and, if so, invokes the zoom-out function.Otherwise, if the digital map does not have the default orientation, themap controller 52 rotates the digital map to achieve the defaultorientation. In this manner, the mode selector 70 and/or the mapcontroller 52 can prioritize the map manipulation functions mapped to adisplaced double tap gestures in various command contexts.

Next, FIG. 3 illustrates processing a double tap gesture and a displaceddouble tap gesture on an example touchscreen device 100, which may besimilar to the device 10 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1. Todisplay and modify a digital map 102 according to user gestures, thedevice 100 may implement a mapping module or system similar to themapping system of FIG. 2.

When a user taps on the touchscreen at a point of contact 110, thedevice 100 processes the subsequent tap as a part of a double tapgesture or an extended double tap gesture, provided the timingrequirements are satisfied. If the second tap occurs at a point ofcontact 112, which is within a circle 120 with fixed radius R₁, thedevice 100 processes the two taps as a double tap gesture. If the secondtap occurs at a point of contact 114, which is within a circle 122 withfixed radius R₂ but outside the circle 120, the device 100 recognizes adisplaced double tap gesture. In another implementation, the device 100does not check whether the point of contact 114 is within the circle122.

For further clarity, a timing diagram 150 in FIG. 4 illustratesprocessing an example sequence of events to recognize a double tapgesture or an extended double tap gesture. This event processing may beimplemented in the extended double tap gesture processing unit 60, forexample.

According to the timing diagram 150, finger touchdown event TD₁ (event152) occurs at a time selected to be the beginning of the timeline ofFIG. 4. The event 152 occurs at a location on the touchscreen relativeto which subsequent finger touchdown events are measured. Finger liftoffevent LO₁ (event 154) occurs at time t₁≦T₁ following the event 152.Accordingly, the gesture processing unit 60 can interpret the events 152and 154 as a possible instance of a (single) tap gesture. Morespecifically, the gesture processing unit 60 can forward an indicationof a tap gesture to the map controller 52 if no finger touchdown eventsoccur after the event 154 within time period T₂. However, if the gestureprocessing unit 60 detects another finger touchdown event within thistime period, the gesture processing unit 60 can decide to not forward anindication of a tap gesture to the map controller 52 until it isdetermined whether the second tap is a part of a regular or displaceddouble tap gesture.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, finger touchdown event TD₂ (event 156A) may bedetected at time t₂≦T₂ following the event 154 at a distance d₁≦R₁ fromthe location on the touchscreen at which the finger touchdown event wasdetected. Alternatively, finger touchdown event TD′₂ (event 156B) may bedetected at time t₂≦T₂ following the event 154 at a distance R₁<d₂≦R₂from the location on the touchscreen at which the finger touchdown eventwas detected. The corresponding liftoff event LO₂ (event 158A) or LO′₂(event 158B) occurs at time t₃≦T₃ following the event 156A or 156B.After detecting the event 158A or 158B, the gesture processing unit 60may forward an indication of a double tap gesture or a displaced doubletap gesture, respectively, to the map controller 52.

Now referring to FIG. 5, a state transition diagram 200 of an exampletechnique for processing double tap gestures of multiple types can beimplemented in the extended double tap gesture processing unit 60 and/orthe map controller 52, for example. In FIG. 5, states are illustrated inrespective bubbles, state transitions are illustrated using arrows,events that trigger state transitions are listed next to thecorresponding arrows, and actions performed at state transitions arelisted next to the arrows in italics.

In state 202, the gesture processing unit 60 awaits user input. Inresponse to receiving a finger touchdown event, the gesture processingunit 60 advances to state 204 to await a liftoff event. If the liftoffevent occurs within time interval T₁, the gesture processing unit 60advances to state 206. Otherwise, if the liftoff event occurs outsidethe time interval T₁, the gesture processing unit 60 returns to state202 and processes a long press event.

From state 206, the gesture processing unit 60 can advance to state 208,advance to state 210, or return to state 202. More particularly, if atouchdown event is detected within time interval T₂ at a location thatis within radius R₁ of the location of the first touchdown event, state210 is selected; if a touchdown event is detected within time intervalT₂ at a location that is within radius R₂ but outside radius R₁ of thelocation of the first touchdown event, state 208 is selected; and if notouchdown event is detected within time interval T₂, state 202 isselected and a single tap gesture is processed.

In each of states 208 and 210, the gesture processing unit 60 awaits afinger liftoff event. When a liftoff event occurs in state 210, thegesture processing unit 60 returns to state 202 and processes a doubletap gesture. When a liftoff event occurs in state 208, the gestureprocessing unit 60 returns to state 202 and processes a displaced doubletap gesture. For example, a zoom-in function may be invoked in responseto the double tap gesture, and a zoom-out function may be invoked inresponse to the displaced double tap gesture.

As indicated above, the gesture processing unit 60 may process thedisplaced double tap gesture differently in different situations. FIG. 6illustrates a flow diagram 300 of an example method for processing adisplaced double tap gesture according to the current command context.At block 302, an interactive digital map is provided on a touchscreen oranother suitable display device. A displaced double tap gesture isdetected block 304 using, for example, the techniques discussed aboveand illustrated in FIGS. 3-5.

Current command context is determined at block 306 based on thepreviously entered commands and/or the current state of the digital map.For example, the command context may indicate that the digital map isnot oriented with North being aligned with the top of the touchscreen,that the zoom level at which the digital map is being displayed isdifferent than the default zoom level, etc. A function is selectedaccording to the determined command context at block 308. The selectedfunction is then applied at block 310.

Additional Considerations

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement components, operations, or structures described as a singleinstance. Although individual operations of one or more methods areillustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of theindividual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothingrequires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter of the present disclosure.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules mayconstitute either software modules (e.g., code stored on amachine-readable medium) or hardware modules. A hardware module istangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., aprocessor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware module thatoperates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term hardware should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwaremodules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware modules need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where the hardware modules comprise ageneral-purpose processor configured using software, the general-purposeprocessor may be configured as respective different hardware modules atdifferent times. Software may accordingly configure a processor, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware module at one instance oftime and to constitute a different hardware module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware and software modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware and/or software modules. Accordingly,the described hardware modules may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple of such hardware or software modules existcontemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signaltransmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) that connectthe hardware or software modules. In embodiments in which multiplehardware modules or software are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware or software modules may beachieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of informationin memory structures to which the multiple hardware or software moduleshave access. For example, one hardware or software module may perform anoperation and store the output of that operation in a memory device towhich it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware or softwaremodule may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieveand process the stored output. Hardware and software modules may alsoinitiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate ona resource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as anSaaS. For example, as indicated above, at least some of the operationsmay be performed by a group of computers (as examples of machinesincluding processors), these operations being accessible via a network(e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g.,APIs).

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Some portions of this specification are presented in terms of algorithmsor symbolic representations of operations on data stored as bits orbinary digital signals within a machine memory (e.g., a computermemory). These algorithms or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the data processing artsto convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Asused herein, an “algorithm” or a “routine” is a self-consistent sequenceof operations or similar processing leading to a desired result. In thiscontext, algorithms, routines and operations involve physicalmanipulation of physical quantities. Typically, but not necessarily,such quantities may take the form of electrical, magnetic, or opticalsignals capable of being stored, accessed, transferred, combined,compared, or otherwise manipulated by a machine. It is convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signalsusing words such as “data,” “content,” “bits,” “values,” “elements,”“symbols,” “characters,” “terms,” “numbers,” “numerals,” or the like.These words, however, are merely convenient labels and are to beassociated with appropriate physical quantities.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs forprocessing double tap gestures through the disclosed principles herein.Thus, while particular embodiments and applications have beenillustrated and described, it is to be understood that the disclosedembodiments are not limited to the precise construction and componentsdisclosed herein. Various modifications, changes and variations, whichwill be apparent to those skilled in the art, may be made in thearrangement, operation and details of the method and apparatus disclosedherein without departing from the spirit and scope defined in theappended claims.

1. A method for processing user input on a computing device having amotion sensor interface, the method comprising: detecting, via themotion sensor interface, a first tap at a first point, the first tapincluding a first touchdown event at the first point and a first liftoffevent substantially at the first point; detecting, via the motion sensorinterface, a second tap at a second point within a fixed time intervalof detecting the first tap, the second first tap including a secondtouchdown event at the first point and a second liftoff eventsubstantially at the second point; in response to determining that thesecond point is inside a fixed radius of the first point, processing thefirst tap and the second tap as an instance of a first gesture;otherwise, in response to determining that the second point is outsidethe fixed radius of the first point, processing the first tap and thesecond tap as an instance of a second gesture.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the fixed radius is a first fixed radius; the method furthercomprising determining that the second point is within a second fixedradius of the first point.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein a pair oftaps detected outside the fixed time interval is interpreted as twoseparate instances of a third gesture.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising displaying a digital map on the computing device, whereinprocessing the first tap and the second tap includes applying aninstance of the first gesture or the second gesture to the digital map.5. The method of claim 4, wherein: the digital map is displayed at aselected zoom level, processing an instance of the first gestureincludes one of increasing or decreasing the zoom by a predeterminedamount, and processing an instance of the second gesture includes theother one of increasing or decreasing the zoom by the predeterminedamount.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein: the digital map is displayedwith a selected orientation different from a default orientation, andprocessing an instance of the second gesture includes rotating thedigital map to align the digital map with the default orientation. 7.The method of claim 4, wherein applying an instance of the first gestureor the second gesture to the digital map includes providing the firstpoint as a parameter to a respective map manipulation function.
 8. Themethod of claim 4, wherein applying an instance of the second gesture tothe digital map includes: determining a command context defined byinteraction with the digital map prior to detecting the first tap, andselecting a map manipulation function according to the determinedcommand context.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion sensorinterface is a touchscreen, and wherein the first point and the secondpoint are on a surface of the touchscreen.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein: detecting the first tap includes detecting the first touchdownevent and the first liftoff event within a fixed liftoff interval of thefirst touchdown event, and detecting the second tap includes detectingthe second touchdown event and the second liftoff event within the fixedliftoff interval of the second touchdown event.
 11. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing thereon a plurality of instructions forprocessing input provided via a touchscreen, wherein the plurality ofinstructions, when executed on one or more processors, causes the one ormore processors to: cause a digital map to be displayed on thetouchscreen; receive an indication of a first tap at a first point onthe digital map; receive an indication of a second tap at a second pointon the digital map, wherein each of the first tap and the second tap isassociated with a respective touchdown and liftoff event at the firstpoint and the second point, respectively; in response to determiningthat the second tap is detected within a fixed time interval of thefirst tap, select one of a first map function or a second map function,including (i) select the first map function in response to determiningthat the second point is within a fixed radius of the first point, and(ii) select the second map function in response to determining that thesecond point is outside the fixed radius of the first point; and applythe selected one of the first map function and the second map functionto the digital map.
 12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11,wherein the first map function is a zoom-in function and the secondfunction is a zoom-out function.
 13. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 12, wherein the zoom-in function and the zoom-out function areassociated with a same discrete change in zoom level.
 14. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the second function is anorientation alignment function that causes the digital map to be rotatedso as to display the digital map with a default orientation.
 15. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein: when the digital map isnot oriented according to the default orientation, the second mapfunction is an orientation alignment function that causes the digitalmap to be rotated so as to align with the default orientation, and whenthe digital map is oriented according to the default orientation, thesecond map function is one of a zoom-in or a zoom-out function.
 16. Adevice comprising: one or more processors; a motion sensor interfacecoupled to the one or more processors and configured to receive userinput; a memory coupled to the one or more processors storing therein aset of instructions of an extended double tap gesture processing modulewhich, when executed on the one or more processors, is configured to:receive, from the motion sensor interface, an indication of a first tap,including a first touchdown event and a first liftoff event, at a firstpoint, receive, from the motion sensor interface, an indication of asecond tap, including a second touchdown event and a second liftoffevent, at a second point, in response to determining that the indicationof the second tap is received within a fixed time interval of theindication of the first tap, process the first tap and the second tap asan instance of one of a plurality of different double tap gestures,including select one of the plurality of double tap gestures based atleast on a distance between the first point and the second point. 17.The device of claim 16, wherein the motion sensor interface includes atouchscreen, and wherein the first point and the second point are on asurface of the touchscreen.
 18. The device of claim 16, wherein thememory further stores instructions of a map controller configured to (i)render a digital map using map data, (ii) receive an indication of theselected one of the plurality of double tap gestures from the extendeddouble tap gesture processing module, and (iii) apply the selected oneof the plurality of double tap gestures to the digital map.
 19. Thedevice of claim 18, wherein the map controller is configured to zoom inon the digital map if the extended double tap gesture processing moduleselects a first one of the plurality of double tap gestures, and zoomout on the digital map if the extended double tap gesture processingmodule selects a second one of the plurality of double tap gestures. 20.The device of claim 19, wherein the plurality of double tap gesturesincludes a regular double tap gesture selected when the distance betweenthe first point and the second point is within a first radius, and adisplaced double tap gesture selected when the distance between thefirst point and the second point is outside the first radius but withina second radius.
 21. The device of claim 18, wherein the map controlleris further configured to: determine a command context based on previoususer interaction with the motion sensor interface; selecting a mapmanipulation function corresponding to the selected one of the pluralityof double tap gestures according to the determined command context, andapply the selected map manipulation function to the digital map.
 22. Thedevice of claim 21, wherein the map manipulation function is selectedfrom among at least (i) a zoom out function (ii) an orientationalignment function that causes the map controller to rotate the digitalmap so as to align the digital map with a default orientation.
 23. Thedevice of claim 18, further comprising a wireless network interface viawhich the map controller is configured to receive the map data.